Jordan Threatens Drug Traffickers In Southern Syria After Deadly Strikes

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Several drug traffickers in Syria’s southern region received text messages on their mobile phones calling on them to surrender to Jordanian border guards, the Horan Free League and other Syrian pro-opposition news blogs reported on May 16.

The messages, which were sent from Jordanian phone numbers, also threatened the traffickers with a similar fate to that of Marie al-Ramthan, a drug kingpin who was killed along with his wife and six children on May 8 when a strike hit home in the village of Shaab in the eastern countryside of al-Suwayda.

“We know who you are, your movements are monitored, your meetings are infiltrated, you contribute to sabotaging the minds of our people, and for their sake we will not spare any of you,” the text message read. “Surrender yourselves to the Jordanian Border Guard forces before the deadline expires and you are held accountable, your fate will be the same as that of Marai al-Ramathan. You will not escape punishment, no matter what you do. The Jordanian Armed Forces – The Arab Army.”

Jordanian and regional intelligence sources confirmed to Reuters that Jordan was behind the killing of al-Ramthan, who was sentenced to death on several occasions in recent years in absentia by Jordanian courts for drug trafficking.

According to the news agency, an abandoned drug factory located near the town of Khrab al-Shahm in the western Daraa countryside was hit by Jordan on the same day.

The Syrian government didn’t comment on the strikes, which led to some criticism against Jordan for the killing of al-Ramthan’s wife and children.

Syria, which was torn by more than a decade of war, is today one of the key drug production hubs in the Middle East. Jordan, on the other side, is the main smuggling route to the lucrative drug market of Saudi Arabia and other Arab states in the Gulf.

Combating drug trafficking was one of the main issues the Syrian foreign minister discussed with its counterpart from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq during a meeting that was held in the Jordanian capital of Amman on May 1, just a few days before Damascus was readmitted to the Arab League.

The new Jordanian threat to drug traffickers in southern Syria came following a series of raids by Syrian security forces in the town of Maaraba in the eastern Daraa countryside and Alajami in the governorate western countryside. The target of the raids was reportedly Rafi al-Ruwais, a former rebel turned drug kingpin. He is said to be the number two on Jordan’s wanted list after al-Ramthan. The hunt for the man is still ongoing.

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